This weblog will be covering the early days - and who knows what else - of The Big Data Show. It may not be called that by the time it's cooked, but don't worry about that.
What is The Big Data Show? It's a real live show with actors in theatres and everything, but it's not quite like any other you'll have seen before. It's about the first hack in the UK to end up in court, from way before the world of the Web and mobile phones. It's about the people who did it, why they did it, and what happened to them afterwards. It's about Prince Philip, Maggie Thatcher, the dawn of neo-liberalism and the dawn creeping through the curtains at 5am. There are armed policemen, judges and Lords.
So that's exciting enough. But not exciting enough for us - us being Rupert Goodwins, technology journalist and one of them thar hackers, and Clare Duffy, playwright, director and guiding light. No, we want more. So there'll be an app to run on your mobile phones during the play and make you part of the story. There'll be digital magic. And there'll be a lot to say about what the first stirrings of the digital society - and its anti-social tendencies - can tell us about today, in this age of mass surveillance, monetisation of our identities, and the wild, wild ride into the future of Homo Digitalis (*)
.I could go on, but I'm not going to. Some things will have to be left as a surprise, and most things have yet to happen. But there will be updates, because it's a lot of fun trying to create a play at the same time as an app, and lots of people are getting involved, and we've already bombarded a digital forensics guy with Maltesers propelled down a ramp made out of drinking straws. For Science! And Art! And Lols!
There will be more lols.
Anyway. The Big Data Show, or whatever it ends up being called, is due to hit the boards in 2018. We are going to be running a small preview of some of the ideas we're working on in late spring 2017, and if you're in Edinburgh during the Science Festival and fancy checking it out, then watch this space. We'll need your help.
Until later, distant reader
(*) Yes, I know digitalis is foxglove, and even if it were a proper Linnaean taxonomy it would be Homo digitalis, no cap D, but this is art in the service of a greater truth.)
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